Apr 30, 2021
LANSING (AP) Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday announced a plan to tie the lifting of coronavirus restrictions to Michigan’s vaccination rate, setting specific benchmarks that must be reached to return to normal.
As more people get shots, she said, the state will allow office work, relax and ultimately end indoor capacity limits, and lift a health order designed to curb COVID-19. About half of residents ages 16 and older have received at least one dose.
Michigan has become a national hotspot for infections and hospitalizations at a time when more than half the U.S. adult population has been vaccinated and other states have seen the virus diminish substantially. Key numbers, however, are improving in the state.
Michigan governor ties eased restrictions to vaccine rate
fredericksburg.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fredericksburg.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Michigan unveils reopening plan tied to COVID-19 vaccination rates
wbal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wbal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
If all goes well, Whitmer said, Michigan could hit its first benchmark meaning that 55 percent of eligible Michiganders have received their first dose in seven to ten days, with restrictions that would start to lift two weeks after that, before the end of May. Eleven of Michigan’s 83 counties have already met that goal; 19 others, though, remain below 40 percent.
Workers can return to the office and other job sites two weeks after 55 percent of Michiganders, or 4.4 million residents, receive their first doses. This would relax a Whitmer administration rule that employees work remotely when feasible.
Restaurant and bar curfews will be lifted, indoor capacity at sports stadiums, conferences, banquets, funeral homes, now set at different levels, will increase to 25 percent, and capacity limits at gyms will increase from 30 percent to 50 percent two weeks after 60 percent of Michiganders, or 4.9 million residents, receive their first doses.